Political Quotes

“Today I rise to discuss the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, a bipartisan bill to delay further implementation of flood insurance rate increases that took effect on October 1, 2013, under the National Flood Insurance Program. Congress last year, on a bipartisan basis, passed the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. The measure included long overdue reforms to strengthen the financial solvency and administration efficiency of the National Flood Insurance Program. The rationale for the 2012 law was the need for the National Flood Insurance Program to more accurately reflect flood risk. Historically, most low-risk States subsidize high-risk coastal States. Similarly, low-risk areas within States tended to subsidize those areas with higher risk, which were more prone to flooding. The linchpin of the 2012 law was to use true actuarial rates in order to prevent very low-risk areas from subsidizing moderate- to high-risk areas. The unintended consequence has been drastic premium increases for those plans that were traditionally subsidized by the National Flood Insurance Program. Under the 2012 law, Congress mandated that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, complete an affordability study to further evaluate any unintended consequences as a result of the changes. This study was to be completed before the rate increases went into effect, which was crucial to understanding the full scope of the new risk model.…”